One of the reasons why LGBTIQ+ people may not feel safe in Qatar is due to a law that criminalizes and penalizes individuals who are found guilty of “unnatural sexual intercourse” with someone they know to be male or female. The law has been used as justification for arrests, detentions and deportations.
The “qatar world cup 2022” is a topic that has been in the news recently. LGBTIQ+ people are concerned about their safety in Qatar.
Fifa, according to LGBTIQ+ organizations, has replied to the call for action, but Qatar’s organizing committee has not.
“Progress has been sluggish” and “problems of concern” continue, according to LGBTIQ+ organizations working with Fifa on the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
The 16 organizations believe that pledges on LGBTIQ+ people’s safety in the host country “have not been enough.”
They went on to say that if safety guarantees cannot be provided, they would have to consider if the danger to LGBTIQ+ persons who wish to attend is too great.
They also said that Fifa had shown “a high degree of collaboration.”
The decision to hold the event in Qatar, a country where homosexuality is prohibited, has been widely criticized.
Before the tournament starts on November 21, an international gathering of LGBTIQ+ organizations has given eight action items on LGBTIQ+ rights that it wants Fifa and the Qatari government to execute.
These steps include removing laws and policies that discriminate against LGBTIQ+ individuals and ensuring their protection from harassment and incarceration.
They’ve also asked for further training in dealing with the LGBTIQ+ community, as well as ongoing efforts to protect the region’s LGBTIQ+ residents’ long-term safety.
“Progress has been sluggish, and guarantees for LGBTIQ+ people’s safety and the systems in place to assure safety have not been enough,” the organizations added.
“If the difficulties confronting LGBTIQ+ persons in Qatar cannot be acknowledged, and guarantees of safety cannot be provided, we will be compelled to consider whether the danger to LGBTIQ+ individuals wishing to attend or work at the World Cup in Qatar is too great.”
More meetings with Fifa and Qatar’s top committee for organizing the event are scheduled in the coming weeks, “where it is hoped progress may be achieved,” they said.
The following are the steps they have requested:
- Legislation or policies that discriminate against LGBTIQ+ individuals should be repealed.
- Ensure that LGBTIQ+ persons are protected from harassment, arrest, and incarceration.
- Ensure that LGBTIQ+ individuals wanting to attend the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have the right to enter the nation, as well as freedom of speech for everyone in the country, both inside and outside stadiums.
- Provide proper training in dealing with those who identify as LGBTIQ+.
- Ensure that stadiums have suitable amenities for LGBTIQ+ people.
- Fifa and the supreme committee extend a warm welcome to LGBTIQ+ individuals intending to attend the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, as well as freedom of expression for all citizens of the nation, both inside and outside stadiums.
- Ensure that discussion of LGBTIQ+ concerns is not censored or prohibited in local and international media or broadcasting.
- To secure the long-term safety of LGBTIQ+ people in the area, collaborate with stakeholders from the worldwide and regional LGBTIQ+ communities.
Why is the World Cup in Qatar so contentious?
In November 2021, Fatma Al-Nuaimi, Qatar’s supreme committee’s communications executive director, told Sport that “everyone would be welcome” during the 2022 World Cup.
The tournament’s contentious awarding to Qatar, on the other hand, has focused attention on the host nation’s human rights record.
The nation has harsh anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, and women’s rights are also a hot topic.
Qatar’s treatment of the 30,000 migrant workers used to construct the tournament’s infrastructure has also been criticized.
The Guardian claimed in February 2021 that 6,500 migrant laborers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have perished in Qatar since the country won the World Cup bidexternal-link, a statistic Qatar denies.
Fifa officials were accused of being bought in the original decision to grant Qatar the tournament, but an independent inquiry commissioned by Fifa found no concrete proof of this.
Organizing the tournament in the Middle Eastern nation, according to Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal, was motivated by “money” and “commercial interests.”
Meanwhile, England manager Gareth Southgate has said that it would be “a tremendous pity” if certain England supporters are unable to attend the World Cup due to concerns about their safety in Qatar, considering the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community.
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